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 The Society of Dissenters 499 The document which is here printed shows the ultimate point reached by the Presbyterians as agitators and the plan of operations which they had formulated early in 1769. It was recently discov- ered among a mass of judicial records which are stored in the vaults of the Court House of New York County. It consists of minutes of various mefftings held during the months of February and March, 1769, by leading members of the Presbyterian and Baptist churches of New York City, in which they organized themselves as a " So- ciety of Dissenters." Their object was to protest and to enlarge their rights. It was intended that this society should be the parent of a federation of similar societies, and that these, like the political communities of the time, should be bound together by committees of correspondence. But beyond the issue of the circular letter printed here, the movement scarcely went. The minutes abruptly close with the entry for March 21, 1769. They occupy the early pages of a volume of ordinary ledger size, which in 1791 was filled with entries of writs by one of the clerks of the Supreme Court of the state. A part of these minutes, viz., the Articles of Agreement and the Circular Letter, were printed in Gaine's Nciv York Gazette, July 24, 1769. This was done by one of the Anglican opponents of the Dissenters. In the next number, that of July 31, appeared an un- signed letter (from a Presbyterian) avowing the Circular Letter and the Articles which had been printed, and declaring the intention to continue meetings and keep up the agitation against the establish- ment of bishops. A few other references to the matter appear in contemporary newspapers, but nothing of special consequence, save a circular letter published by Gaine, September 25, 1769, which was prepared in March, 1764, by certain Presbyterians of Pennsylvania for the purpose of bringing about closer union. These articles, however, make no express reference to Anglicans. Since Gaine's Gazette is so rare, and we apparently now have a correct copy of the minutes of all, or nearly all, the meetings that were held, it has been deemed advisable to print the minutes in full. Herbert L. Osgood. New York, February 17th 1769. Whereas it is of the utmost Importance for the different Christian Denominations in the Country, not belonging to the Church, professing themselves to be in Communion with the Church of England, to unite together for the preservation of their common and respective civil and religious Rights and Privileges, against all Oppressions and Encroach- ments by those of any Denomination whatsoever ; it is thought proper for